Category Archives: Eli

When we found out that Michelle was pregnant, we were really excited for what lay ahead of us. The thought of our family expanding, and walking out our dream was and is amazing. But the one question we asked, and people asked us, was, “How do you think Eli will react?”

Now this is a valid question. A question that must run through a lot of parent’s heads. We were pretty sure that Eli, being young, would not really have any problem with adapting to a little brother or sister. He always gets on well with other children around him, and we’ve had no problems with him in that way. But there is always that little question at the back of your head.

Now that Eva is here, we know that there was nothing to worry about. Eli loves her, accepted her into the house when she arrived home, and is interested in her every day. What a blessing!

But there was another part to this question about another child coming into the house. Would my love for Eli diminish because I now have two children? Maybe I’m the only person who has thought like that, but for me it was a bit of a scary thought. We’d had 14 months of the Jenkins family being Paul, Michelle and Eli. All of a sudden we went from 3 to 4, and a bit earlier than we had anticipated by arriving 4 weeks before her due date. Thankfully, my ability to love my children has no limits.

I look in at my son sleeping every night before I go to bed, and my heart melts – I smile from ear to ear, and I feel like I am going to burst, because this wee dude is mine and I love him. When I scoop my wee princess in my arms because she is crying with wind pains, I rock her gently and she relaxes down into my arm, I look at her, and wonder how God could bless me with this gift – I know that He has given me the capacity to love her beyond measure.

The amount of people we can love is not limited by an imaginary love capacity ceiling. Our Daddy God has immeasurable love for each one of us. Every time another baby is born, God loves that precious gift unconditionally. As I walk down this path of life, I am gaining more and more knowledge of God. Believe me, its still only a small grasp of who God is, but I love the way that God teaches us valuable lessons in everyday life.

In knowing that the way I love Eli and Eva, I can see a picture of how God loves His children, and His love is so much more than my love. There are a lot of people who struggle with the idea that someone loves them. Rejection has caused them hurt and pain, to hate who they are, because they think something they have done has caused those around them to not love them. Romans 5:8 says this:

But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

God’s love for us is not a response to something we do for Him, rather, He poured out His love, in the form of His son Jesus on the cross, so that we could know that nothing we could ever do would change the fact that He loves us. The ultimate price has been paid, God’s love has already been put on the line for us, we just need to receive it.

Every night before we put to Eli to bed I kiss him, I hug him and I tell him I love him, and ask him one simple question. “Do you love Daddy?” With a simple shake of his head up and down, and a smile through his dummy, I am assured that my son loves me. For me this means the world.

Michelle has been asking once or twice (read going on at me!) if I would get something done with the video footage of Eli that we have taken over this first year. So in the space of about 4 minutes I’ve put together this wee video clip showing Eli about an hour after he was born, and then a few days ago. It won’t win any awards, it could have had a lot more footage in it, but its great to be able to share this.

Its been a hectic first year for our wee warrior – he’s come through a lot and yet you wouldn’t know it!